Setanta going the way of Ondigital?

R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Jim" wrote in message
...
R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Mike GW8IJT" wrote in message
...
They appeared to have agreed to pay well over the top for some football
matches.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8090633.stm
Regards Mike

By one account, they failed to pay enough to land the 2nd EPL package they
hoped would increase subscriptions.

Setanta may have overpaid for product (who wants to watch SPL matches,
which old firm aside rarely get into five figures on attendance?)

Viewers in Scotland? I don't think crowd attendance accurately reflects
the quality of football on offer,



Really - apart from the Old Firm, they never seem to advance very far (or at
all) in international competition...



Nor do many EPL clubs, outside the top 4. My point is
that teams grinding out a draw don't get more
entertaining because they're being watched by tens of
thousands, especially when the spectators are bored
into silence.

"Jim" wrote in message
...
R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Mike GW8IJT" wrote in message
...
They appeared to have agreed to pay well over the top for some football
matches.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8090633.stm
Regards Mike


By one account, they failed to pay enough to land the 2nd EPL package they
hoped would increase subscriptions.


Setanta may have overpaid for product (who wants to watch SPL matches,
which old firm aside rarely get into five figures on attendance?)


Viewers in Scotland? I don't think crowd attendance accurately reflects
the quality of football on offer, and that isn't always related to the
entertainment value. For the season or so I held a subscription, the EPL
matches on offer were often pretty poor, the stakes being too high for
mid-table clubs to risk attacking football. SPL matches shown were nearly
always one side of the Old Firm away to opposition with little to lose by
having a go - at least that gave the viewer something to watch. Even the
English non-league games they showed (not that I watched many) could
provide honest effort despite the players' limited abilities. A genuine
fan of the game would not have felt short-changed.

The main losers will be viewers who didn't mind paying a subscription in
principle, but wouldn't consider paying 3 or 4 times as much for Sky, even
with its premium content. Since Sky won't be allowed to pick up the EPL
package, I wonder who else will step in. Maybe there's an opportunity for
an IPTV operator.

There's nothing stopping them being picked up by a terrestrial operator.

As Sky can't bid, with Setanta broke, BBC/ITV could offer 50 quid for the
package and might win it!

tim